Showdown in the Snow
by Mama Bunny
Summary: [Sequel to The Crystal Melody] When your fear manifests into a ghost that have been taking out other keepers, you gather your team to face it. No matter how long that fear's been eating at you - you have to stand and face it. ONE-SHOT. (Written for healing, please read the notes before the story.)


_**Showdown in the Snow**_

 **Disclaimer** : I don't own Final Fantasy. You know the drill.

 **Notes** : PLEASE READ THIS! I've been tired of having nightmares regarding my own personal trauma this week that I decided I needed take my own advice about painful things, which is to write about it to process my thoughts. Even though there is no way I'll ever be able to punish the man behind what happened to me, as he's long since dead now, even twenty years after... the memories haunt me. I talked about it with my dad, with other family, with doctors, with my counselors in the past, and my life coach... and they said it was time for me to do something about it. Many scenes here are just paraphrased from what happened in real life, or what people have said to me. At least in this way, through writing, I can at least fight back. So. Excuse me for doing this. But I need it. And I encourage everyone to use writing to work through their pain, whatever it is. Be it fic or original works. I've used Canti to work through so much, so... here I am, using her to draw power to myself, I guess. This fic is named after a battle in FFRK. In FFII events, there is a super hard battle called "Showdown in the Snow". Fighting that boss with a super powered Borghen, plus other real life events and conversations, and the fact that I've had nightmares this week is what made this story come to be.

 _ **TRIGGER WARNING: molestation, psychological trauma, nightmares, PTSD**_

 **FIC START!**

 _The hands._

 _At first, I don't think anything of them. They're just hands. I've had plenty of contact over my life. Loving hands, hateful hands, gentle hands, harsh hands._

 _And then, they move._

 _These hands, they move to places I've had contact before, but not from just anyone. I squirm, trying to make my feelings known. I don't want these hands on me. They aren't hands I know._

 _But then comes a laugh. A laugh that signals that it doesn't matter what I want. What matters is what **they** want._

 _I scream as loud as I can, tightening myself into a ball, to protect myself from the invasion. The hands go everywhere I don't want them to go. I cry out for someone to help me, to get these hands away from me, but no one comes. My whole body is... is violated! Every inch of me is taken over by a force that I don't want contact with. No matter how hard I cry out for help, no one ever comes. And then-_

Canti woke up, clutching around herself, screaming out loudly. She looked around the room, taking a moment to remember that she'd been relocated to a new place on the campus away from the one-room dorms and shared bathrooms of the keepers and those in-training. It was large enough that three of her teammates could live with her, though both Kain and Cid passed on the opportunity the moment she offered it to them. Ever since she and Mateus made their engagement official, no one else would stay there. They popped by daily, and helped out with all the duties she took on around the campus, but they didn't want to live there. Her team knew her, many of them by experience, that she had a healthy sexual appetite.

She wondered why the room was silent as she got out of bed. The clock revealed that it was late at night. She was in civilian clothing. She looked back at her nightstand, remembering that just earlier she had been doing research. Ah, that's right. Papa Cid's own manual of aeronautics. He had written that entire book in his offtime since he decided to permanently remain here as Canti's father, and she was proof-reading it for him for errors before it could go to publication. She nodded to herself. Seemed like everything was the way it should be. Nothing was out of place. It certainly didn't seem like when she woke up and the world had gone insane only weeks ago.

She yawned and headed over to the bathroom, turning on the water so it could warm up before she got in it. Canti slipped all her clothes off and stepped into the shower stall, closing the door behind her. The water was warm enough to turn her skin red, but that's how she liked it. Steam always filled up when she took a shower. She loved the sensation, but even more than that, typically, she felt cleaner that way. As she took her fluffy loofah into her hands and made the bubbles very fluffy, she scrubbed her skin intensely. Bubbles got literally everywhere as she cleaned every inch of her skin, but she didn't feel any cleaner.

Odd.

She kept scrubbing, over and over again. Her arms were fine. She didn't smell bad. She cleaned the bottom of her feet, getting all the black from having gone barefoot all day off. That was fine, too. But. When she cleaned her stomach and abdomen, and her thighs... no scrubbing felt like enough... Canti panicked for a moment, scrubbing that much harder. She felt it again, just like in her dream. The hands. She stood under the shower to wash away the soap, but there were no hands on her skin except her own. Her heart beat faster, and that sinister laugh echoed through her mind repeatedly, over and over, growing louder and louder. She bent down under the hot water, clutching herself the same way she had when she woke up. She feared that once again she was in the middle of a dream. Why would this be happening if she was awake?! The hands...

Part of her wanted to do exactly what she did when she was a child. Run away as quick as possible, and hide in some town in some memory where no one would bother to look for her. She knew that eventually her team would come looking in any place she was bound to run, so it didn't really make much sense. Besides. That man, he didn't exist anymore. Reports stated that he had been killed almost a year ago. Being afraid of him didn't make any bit of sense, especially if he was all ready dead.

She wanted to pick herself up and grab her bathrobe, but she slipped and thumped down into the bottom of the shower stall. She watched the water from the showerhead fall onto the floor. Canti could see each individual drop of water. It all made little ripples in the water on the bottom of the stall. She never stopped to notice that before.

Weird.

Even though she wanted to get up, she couldn't bring herself to get up. The water was much cooler now than when she stepped in it, and she was even starting to get a little cold. She hated cold water, there was no way she'd be able to tolerate it if she kept letting it run. Canti stared out into space, doing her best to ignore that feeling. She drifted somewhere between being overwhelmingly tired and awake enough to register the sensations within her body. If she didn't sleep, she wouldn't have seen him again. She could keep those hands at bay. But she was so tired. She'd been working so hard here lately.

She didn't know how long she laid there in the running water before the shower stall opened.

"Cantirena?!" Mateus' voice snapped her out of her stupor, but she didn't look up at him. "What happened?"

She didn't bother moving. She didn't see the need for it.

"No," he breathed out, reaching down to pick her up. He pulled her naked body up and snatched up some fluffy dry towels to wrap her in once he picked her up completely. He inspected her head and saw no injury. No part of her body was hurt that he could identify. He noticed her eyes were half open. "Speak to me."

Canti looked at him, straight into his purple eyes. He could tell something was wrong. And when she seemed as if she was going to say something, she couldn't exactly get the words out. The longer this on, the more frustrated she grew, until tears formed in her eyes.

"How can I assist you if I do not know what ails you?" he asked. "Whatever is wrong will cease to be, once you tell me."

"I... I called out... for you," she muttered through her sniffles.

"I had gone to the library, my lady. I did not hear you all the way there," Mateus replied.

"You never come when I call you."

"Now that is simply false, and you know it is," he answered. "Do not slander my name. I've been nothing but good to you since the time distortion matter was solved."

"Every time I see him, I hear him, I cry out for you... and Kain, and Papa Cid, and..." she shook her head. "...but none of you are ever there..."

"Now I see," he said. "Another nightmare, was it?"

She nodded.

"I was told about this by every member of the team," Mateus said, gripping her to him tighter. "That one event from your past scarred your mind and you haven't been able to put that demon to rest. While I do not know who is responsible in this timeline, I have it on good authority that he is long since dead. There is nothing to fear any longer."

"You think I don't know that?" she asked. "It was Headmaster Ramuh himself that came to tell me Borghen had been killed. I don't remember the circumstances, but I do know he's gone..."

"Then you have nothing to fear."

"I know it doesn't make any sense," she said, gripping around herself again. "But I feel it. His hands, no matter how loud I scream, they're touching me. It's like my body is-"

Suddenly, there was a knock at the door. He put Canti on her feet, and she seemed aware of herself enough to dry off and pull clothes on. Mateus headed to the door, only pulling it open enough to see who would be bothering them at this hour.

"Do you have a moment?" the voice belonged to Minwu.

Mateus pulled the door open and let him walk in. "This late at night?"

"You know as well as I do that Canti will not be ready to sleep for another two hours," Minwu said, crossing his arms.

"Understood. Speak, seer."

"I was speaking with the headmaster," Minwu said, noticing that Canti came out of the bathroom in her lavender bunny print pajamas with her hair up in a towel. "A keeper's team that had a mission in the Second Realm found something that..."

"...that what?" Canti asked, cocking her head to the side.

"Something that we all believed was gone," he continued. "I don't want to frighten you. I didn't even want to bring this to your attention-"

"Spit it out," she said, rolling her eyes. She was making that face of hers that he couldn't ever refuse in the past, and he couldn't exactly refuse it now.

"In the snowfields, they found a spectre of the past," Minwu answered. "Borghen."

"That doesn't surprise me," she replied. "That would be the place where his trap killed Josef, according to history." Minwu was a tad shocked by that calm, logical reaction reaction. Normally she wasn't so analytical. Canti walked over to the table and picked up a pear out of a fruit bowl and took a bite. It didn't taste fresh at all, but midnight snack cravings needed to be answered. "...but... it would explain why I... dreamt about him again."

"You had the nightmare again tonight, then."

"I did."

"Is there... anything I can do to help you feel better?" he asked, only for her to glare up at him. She took another bite of the pear and let out a tiny sigh.

"If there was anything you could do, you would have done it ages ago," Mateus said, taking a seat himself.

"Oh, honorable Emperor, there's no reason to be that way," Minwu quipped. "As if I am not aware of my own uselessness in this situation."

"There might be something you could do," Canti said, her mouth full. When her mouth was empty again, she continued. "You taught me a lot over the years acting as my aide-de-camp, Minwu."

"While I'm glad to hear that, I do not understand where you're going with this-"

She put her hand up to interrupt him. "You don't think that it's possible that I'm the reason why his ghost roams the realm again, do you?"

"Explain," Mateus commanded. Minwu didn't say anything, but he did want her to continue.

"Not many people have an emotional connection to Borghen, positive or negative," Canti said. "Fear would be enough for a spirit like his to resurface. Extreme fear? He would be jacking off with joy in the afterlife knowing his has that kind of effect on someone. Tell me I'm wrong."

Both Minwu and Mateus knew Borghen too well, and they couldn't disagree with that assumption.

"I cannot argue with that logic," Minwu said. "So. Exactly how can I help you deal with your trauma now? Would you like a sleeping spell that prevents dreaming, or-"

"I want you to go get Papa Cid and Kain," she said, having finished her pear enough to toss it into the nearby trashcan. "Prepare to depart immediately."

"Are you sure you want to do this?" Minwu asked, blinking in disbelief.

"No... I'm not," she confessed. "But if Borghen's ghost is roaming the snowfields and it's my fault, then-"

"It is no fault of yours," Mateus insisted. "He is a worthless human being."

"I won't have a manifestation of my fears fucking up history," Canti said, staring straight into his eyes, radiating a natural sense of authority. While Mateus hated that from anyone else, she was the only person he allowed to speak to him like that. "Last time, darkness got through to this sacred place because I wouldn't hold to history. It fucked up my own personal history. I can't let that happen again!"

"Very well," Minwu said. "I'll wake them." He turned to leave, but not before noticing that while Canti did her best to carry herself with confidence, she still carried fear behind that stern expression. Mateus was eyeing her rump the moment her eyes were away from his. He understood that signal all too well. "...Shall we meet you in the armory, then?"

"That will do," Mateus answered dismissively. Ah, that tone royalty made when they had to give a servant a command, but didn't exactly care about it. Minwu remembered that tone from Hilda and the rest of the Fynn royal family every so often. Even if he had to wait to return to his position as Emperor of Palamecia, life here still hadn't helped him lose that aspect of himself. The white mage only nodded in response and walked out, closing the door softly. That's the exact moment Mateus snatched Canti's arm and forced her to turn to face him. "...While I understand your plight, I cannot abide by that tone you carried in your voice... towards me..."

"Punish me however you like, my Emperor, but I had to do it that way," she answered.

He grabbed onto her other arm and pushed her up against the wall. "We don't have a lot of time." He spun her around and pressed her up against the wall, pulling her pajamas down only far enough for him to do his business. "I'll take my full price for it later..."

She grinned, groaning as she felt him enter her. "...I look forward to..." she gasped, losing her train of thought.

* * *

Minwu, Kain, and Cid waited in the armory. It didn't take long before both the Emperor and his betrothed stepped in. They all were able to access their weaponry by calling them with their dominant hands, and they were equipped with the best armors and accessories within Canti's entire inventory.

"Cantirena," Cid said, catching her attention from affixing a hairpin to Mateus to half his MP expediture. "Hey, baby girl, can I-"

"Are you afraid, Papa?" she asked, turning around to look at her adopted father.

"I'm not afraid to run a spear through someone that's hurt my daughter, no," he said, taking a drag on his cigarette and blowing smoke out of his nose. "I am always ready to step up to my fatherly duty. But. I am worried about you."

"I know," she said, taking a deep breath. "I knew you'd try to stop me-"

"Don't put words in my mouth, missy. That's not what I meant. I'm not going to stop you," Cid said. "I'm proud of you for offering to do this, to face something that's terrorized you for most of your life. You're trying to hide how scared you are under that sense of duty, but... you don't have to hide it."

"Papa..." she said, looking down at the floor. It took a lot out of her to keep up that face. Part of her was relieved that he knew her so well. It only proved to her that he loved her enough to see past the faces she'd been putting up her entire life. She felt her eyes water, then sting from the salt of tears uncried.

"This is good for you," Cid whispered. "And... this way, you know you aren't alone. He won't hurt you now. Never again. We won't let him." Tears welled up in his Highwind family sky blue eyes before he put his hands on her shoulders and hug her close to him. "...You're stronger than most people for being willing to face it. I wish I was as half as strong as you."

"Papa Cid, I-" she wrapped her arms around him, gripping to him. She cried into his shoulder, and he put a hand on the back of her head.

"You don't have to say anything," he said. "I understand. We all do."

"If we're doing this," Canti said, breaking the embrace with Cid. "We're doing this now!"

"Aye," Kain nodded.

"Let us get our dear keeper some closure," Minwu said.

"And put that human refuse back in the afterlife where he belongs," Mateus added.

"You're going to enjoy this far too much," Minwu quipped.

"Any chance I have to run electricity through the lifeblood of a worm such a Borghen will inevitably be a good time," Mateus answered back.

"Are you sure you didn't kill him the first time?" Kain asked. "Reports say that his blood was boiled from the inside until he died of heat exhaustion."

"I don't particularly enjoy casting Meltdown, but I wouldn't put it past myself to avenge my darling Empress' defilement in such a gloriously... deadly way."

"I honestly hope the ghost is just as easy to kill as he was," Canti said, leading her team to the door that would open the way into the Second Realm. "You're a master of black magic. If it really is a ghost, then perhaps simple fire magic would be the key to victory. Oh, and Holy spells, too."

"If it's just a simple ghost, then why would other teams of keepers have come back to report it instead of having dealt with it?" Kain asked.

"Keepers aren't supposed to resolve things like this without consulting with the eidolons first," Canti said.

"And... what are we doing?" Cid asked.

"Resolving things ourselves," Canti answered.

"So doesn't that put us in the 'illegally acting without permission' territory?"

"No," she answered. "I'm not a keeper anymore, remember?"

"Then how the hell will we get in without your keeper's badge?"

Canti led them to the painting of the snowfields north of Salamand. "Without a keeper's badge, the only place I can go is the Second Realm, because... that's... my home world..." she answered softly. "Besides. I highly doubt Ramuh would have mentioned it to Minwu without implying that was to be done under the table. The headmaster's known me longer than you guys have, and he knows that I'm the type to jump in without even thinking about asking for permission."

"I do, indeed."

"But of course you'd know I'd be coming through here," she said, chuckling.

Headmaster Ramuh stepped into the light, his green robes sweeping the floor as he walked. "I'm am not clarvoyant. Minwu came directly to me regarding your decision to do this..."

"Oh..."

"...and you've been having nightmares regarding Borghen since your childhood," Ramuh said sternly. "You never once reported this to anyone in charge all these years. You never even reported what he did to you."

"Headmaster, I..." she shook her head. "...he threatened the ones I cared about... H-he... I was... I couldn't!"

Ramuh sighed, walking right up to her. He towered over her in height. Canti always knew the eidolon was benevolent and more understanding than many others. When she was younger, he had often pulled her off to the side to explain things to her differently. She was always a child that stuck out, that thought differently, that solved problems. He looked down at her. "A cruel burden to bear," he said. That voice, ancient and wise, was soothing to everyone in the party. "Forgive me, my child, for not having realized exactly what was wrong all these years."

"If you want to make it up to me," she said, falling to her knees, still looking up at him, "I beg you to... keep a better eye on your staff... Don't let those l-like me become scared of talking to authority. Please, Headmaster! Change the way this place works! There's no way that I'm the only one that's been hurt, that's been too scared to say anything. Don't... don't let another child grow so distant... don't... let them become another me..."

He nodded. "I will do my best to tighten security regarding these matters, however..."

"Sir?"

"...I think you putting it that way is discouraging," he extended his hand to her, making her rise to her feet. "We need many more like you. Strong of will, strong of spirit." He then turned to her team. "When you return, no matter what happens in this battle, I require that you all report directly to me."

"I don't understand why, but... we'll do it," Cid said.

"That is good enough." He began to walk past them all, back into the shadows. He stopped for a moment to look at Mateus, impressed to see him there and moderately respectful. Was it Canti's love that finally brought out some decency in someone known for such abject evil? Ramuh nodded as he turned away, slowly heading out of the Second Realm gallery. "...Yes, we need many more like Cantirena Highwind. I do believe so."

"All right," she said, putting her hand up to the painting. She didn't think she'd be doing this anymore. The magics weren't as harsh as they were before when using a keeper's badge. This time, the transition felt much more natural. The last time she remembered feeling this way was when she was younger, much much younger... how she fell into a painting depicting Minwu... it was like the realm itself was welcoming her back home. It gave her a feeling similar to standing under a cold waterfall on a hot summer day. Destressing, relaxing, calming.

* * *

When Canti opened her eyes again, the party was at the base of the Salamand Mountains. She vaguely remembered this place. Extremely cold winds blasted against the entire party, and some even took defensive stances against it. She lost her footing for a moment, falling against Kain. He caught her with no difficulty, rather used to her having lost her balance often. She looked up at him, wondering if he was mad at her, considering their confusing relationship back and forth over the years since they had met. But he just helped her even out her feet.

"My lady," he said gently. "Does something bother you?"

"Oh, no, no," she answered, shaking her head. "It's just that we're in the coldest place in this entire realm, about to face the embodiment of my fear... the thing I've had nightmares about for the last... what, twenty years, now?"

"For fuck's sake. Twenty years, you've been carrying this with you?" Cid asked. These winds reminded him very much of how he accompanied Cloud to climb the "It's high damn time we did this."

"We cannot cross the snowfields without the proper equipment," Mateus said. "It is well known how high this snow is. We would not survive if we were to simply trek it."

"I'm not interested in being frostbitten!" Canti said in a panic. She hated the cold all ready. "We can go back to Salamand and talk to Josef."

"No need," Minwu said, reaching into one of his many pockets and pulling out a capsule. He tossed it up, and a snowcraft big enough to carry all of them seemed to pop right out of it.

Cid stood agape for a moment. "How in the hell-"

"I carried a foldable canoe in my journey in this world because rivers were so prevalent. Did you think I would not come prepared?" Minwu said, laughing. "Climb aboard. She's ready to go. The sooner we deal with this, the better."

Everyone climbed onto the snowcraft. Minwu unraveled the sail and it caught the harsh winds, carrying them along the top of the over ten feet of fluff. It was late at night, but with the moon in the sky, they were able to see just enough to make their way to the cave. There wasn't much new snowfall for the moment, to which Canti thanked Cosmos. This place was well known to all that had barely studied the Second Realm simply because one of the first heroic deaths in all of the Realms of Fantasy occurred here. Due to the man that she was here to hunt, to boot. She'd always avoided this place, even if she was considered a Second Realm expert because of her aversion to the cold.

"We can get out right there," Cid said, noticing that there was solid ground right in front of the cave.

"That was the plan."

Kain held onto Minwu, jumping with him over to solid ground with no difficulty. Cid made the jump, too. Mateus noticed that Canti wasn't preparing to disembark. He turned to look at her, and there she was, shaking. He couldn't tell if it was from the cold or from fear. He put his purple gloved hands over hers, and she gazed up at him. She was starting to say something, but couldn't quite get it out. He simply channeled some warmth to his hands and pressed them into hers. That seemed to bring her out of it enough for her to pick him up into her arms bridal style so she could jump off the snowcraft and land next to everyone else.

"You-" Mateus couldn't say anything, he was so shocked that she picked him up like that. Exactly how strong was she? Had she been concealing how strong she was after years of being a dragoon? What a vast difference from how he remembered her as a bard, barely able to pick up an electrical amp. "-you actually... lifted me...?!"

"I'll admit, you look heavier than you are," she said with a shrug. "You give off a much more imposing image than that... Must be the billowing cape and the hair..."

"We know who wears the pants in that relationship!" Cid said, bursting out with laughter. Kain and Minwu also joined in. "Careful, the Emperor might have the heirs to Palamecia himself!"

Mateus grunted. "For the first time in my life, it seems I've come upon a commoner's problem."

"What?" Canti asked.

"I have come to realize that my future in-laws are intolerable," he continued.

Kain and Cid laughed even harder.

She cocked her head to the side. "That's not a just a commoner's problem. Everyone has that problem. Don't you have family, too?"

The party turned to enter the cave as Mateus shook his head. "I do not. I am the sole heir and remaining Palamecian royal. Did you not all ready know that about me?"

"I knew that your parents are dead, you had a sister that ran away, and..."

"...and?"

Her eyes narrowed as she glared at him. "You had a harem."

"Well, to be fair, my Empress," he said. "So have you."

"He got you there, baby girl," Cid bust out into laughter.

"Yeah, but, I-"

"Now it's your turn to be embarassed by your father's hoarse, smokey laugh," Mateus said, turning his attention to the cave they were walking through. It was getting darker as they ventured deeper inside, and the cold winds from outside were pushed away by the much colder winds from deep within the cave.

"I'm not embarrassed by my father's laughter!" she snapped at her betrothed.

"They all ready act like an old married couple," Minwu said.

"She domesticated an evil Emperor!" Kain chuckled. "That's pretty impressive."

Suddenly the cave grumbled below them and all the silliness ended abruptly. Canti thrust her hands out to cast Radiant and illuminate the area better than just the fireball from the palm of Mateus's hand that had served as a torch. She then reached for her spear with her left hand, shoving her feet into the ground to give her more stability. There wasn't much room to jump in here, which meant she was going to have to be more careful than she usually was. The rest of her team reached for their weaponry and began to charge their magical energies, waiting for the enemy.

"I thought I heard someone coming in," a voice said that caused Canti to let out a gasp. "I never expected it to be my favorite little bunny."

"Show yourself!" Minwu said. "Traitor to Fynn!"

"I may be that, but that is not why you're here, now is it?" An etherial figure that took Borghen's apperance faded into their vision, right in the middle of their party formation. Canti lost her footing almost immediately, falling onto the rocky path below. He turned to see Canti, shaking where she had fallen. "There she is... little bunny..."

"How can you call her that?!" Kain demanded.

"She knows..." he bent down to look her in the eye. "...tell them... tell them why I call you my little bunny..."

She tried to crawl backwards to get away from him. Why the hell did she say she was going to do this, if the moment she saw his face she was going to lose all ability to bring herself to a stand?! "I had a baby bunny," she answered. "A pet bunny with a cute blue bow that was my only friend. I kept it a secret in the garden... I told him when I met him, when I showed him the bunny that... that I..."

"...wished you were a bunny," Borghen finished her sentence. "So I called you that. And it suited you. Cute, tender, gentle, and so easily scared. It still suits you..."

"I've heard more than enough!" Cid said. He was angrier than any of them had ever seen him be since they met him. "Touching any child is enough to warrant nothing but death... but... you put your dirty hands on my daughter..." He was usually the one to crack a joke or shrug indifferently at many sudden events, but here, he finished his cigarette down to the butt and reached into his jacket pocket to pull out a stick of dynamite. "You have terrorized her long enough!" He put the wick fuse up to the cigarette butt long enough to catch flame and tossed it at Borghen. Everyone could hear the sizzle as the flame went down to the stick. They all took defensive stances until a bright light engulfed the cave.

"You're funny," Borghen's voice came with uproaring laughter. Cid only grew angrier.

"How did that not affect you?" Minwu asked.

"I'm invincible, that's how..." he was bent down, reaching for Canti's forehead. Like he wanted to pet her. "...aren't I?"

"No man, no matter how great is invincible," she said, slapping his hand away. "Especially no one as pathetic as you!"

"You say that, little bunny, but even as I've been killed a multitude of times, I'm still here. All you've done is try to run from me, when you should just accept that you'll always be my little bunny," Borghen said, putting his hands on his hips.

"I've heard more than enough... A child's innocence is sacred..." Minwu said, the ground beneath his feet lighting up with a magical circle. Sparkling, white light flowed around him and gathered between his palms. "Angel's wrath! HOLY!" He unleashed the light at full force at Borghen. If he was indeed a ghost, then there was no chance that this spell could miss. He had fought legions of the undead in the past.

The spell phased right through Borghen.

"See? I can't be defeated! Look at that! The acclaimed white mage of Fynn, the prodigal son of Mysidia himself, can't hit me with his strongest attack spell!"

Mateus stepped between Borghen and Canti. The pudgy, short man stopped gloating for a moment. He knew of the Emperor's might after having experienced it himself when Fynn was set ablaze, due to Borghen's trickery to his own homeland. The last person he expected to see accompany someone like Canti was this dominant political figure, well known for his powers over hellfire and storm winds. He had once obtained dominion upon both sides of the afterlife, and there were none who could stand up to the might of his magic. "For what purpose do you linger here, insect?" he asked, staring down at him.

"Y-your majesty," Borghen said, scratching the back of his head nervously. "What an honor it is to see you again, O Great Emperor! I honestly never thought you'd be in these parts-"

"Cease your prattle," the Emperor commanded.

"Yes, sire," Borghen replied, bowing his head.

"Answer my question," Mateus said. "Exactly why are you here?"

"To be honest, I don't even know how I got here... I was killed, and suddenly I just came here," the traitor captain explained.

"Who killed you? I would like to personally thank this mysterious figure."

"Don't know who it was."

Mateus put his hands together, channeling the hottest energies he could gather into his hands. "For what you have done to the Empress to be, I sentence you to die by fire." The flames came to him naturally, turning from red, orange, and white energies into flickers. He quickly set it free, calling forth a cleansing Fire XVI that could only be brought forth by his hands alone. Borghen seemed as if he had accepted his fate, but when the fires didn't seem to touch him, he only started laughing that much harder! The heat of the Emperor's fire, which had killed thousands throughout the history of the Second Realm, did not phase him at all! "What is the meaning of this?!"

Canti backed away, her heartbeat racing like crazy, until she had come against the wall of the cave. She couldn't take her eyes off of Borghen and his maniacal outburst. When she was alone, she couldn't fight him off. Here, surrounded by those who swore to defend her and support her, he couldn't be stopped at all.

"You should concede the throne to me," Borghen howled as he was bathed in the roaring fire. "I'll take the Empress and rule the Second Realm forever!"

She felt paralyzed, frozen in fear up against the rock wall, "No..." she said, shaking her head. "...make him stop! Please, make him stop!"

Cid took that to heart, immediately charging into the roaring fire first, Venus Gospel firmly clutched between his hands. He lunged at Borghen with all his strength, with Kain jumping in from behind with the Holy Spear. The two master dragoons took turns attacking him, though their spearheads went right through him. Enraged by that, Cid felt his limit break surge, and with a bright flash of red light, unleashed a magical dragon from within to surround the enemy. It tried to bite Borghen, but was unable to make contact. Kain's inner dragon also took shape, gracing him with holy light and even more speed, but even with that, they were unable to land a blow. Minwu and Mateus stood back to back, bringing forth both sacred and hellish magics, channeling the greatest powers they could manifest with their spirits. Canti watched them give every bit of their strength and effort, praying just for one attack to land.

Nothing. Her entire team by now was gasping for air, barely able to stand at all. Minwu had lost his footing entirely. Cid kneeled down as if he had also consumed his own health as well as mental power. Mateus leaned into his staff, struggling to keep himself from collapsing onto the ground. Borghen was still laughing. He didn't even have to dodge any of those attacks!

She forced herself onto her own feet. If he really was here because of her fears, she was going to have to do this herself... With each step, her feet seemed to be weighed down. As if gravity was five times as much as it was normally, she was slow. She stopped to look at each one of her party members, giving them a sad smile and whispering to them how much she appreciated all their efforts. And when she stood face to face with the man that had abused her twenty years ago, she called forth her lovely Golden Spear with it's Ruby Dragon hair tassle into her left hand.

"...wait," Kain gasped out. "My lady, you-"

"So..." Borghen said. "Is it really true, what he said? That you're the Emperor's betrothed?"

She nodded.

"As you can see, he's no match for me," he taunted, to which Mateus sneered. "So. Why don't you come here? My little bunny..."

Her response was simple. "No."

"You are defended by two master dragoons and two of the greatest mages to belong to either school of magic," Borghen said, musing towards them. How pathetic they looked, having spent all that energy on trying to bring him to an end. "They could not touch me with all their strength and power."

"I saw that," she said, "But even still, I... I refuse to give in to you!"

He stepped closer to her, until he was almost against her. "You were never able to stop me, then... What makes you think you can now? I can sense your fear..."

She pointed the head of her spear at her own neck.

"No!" Minwu reached out to her, but he was too weak to make his way to her. "That's not the answer!"

"I will not be haunted by you any more!" she screamed, pressing the blade to her skin. Blood began to slide down, then drip off where the tassle held both the pole and blade together.

Borghen shook his head. "You will be mine. I will not have you die." He reached to put his hand on hers so he could snatch her weapon away from her, and she noticed that their skin touched for a split second. But, all of her party couldn't connect with him at all. "Come now. I will treat you well. You'll be my little bunny."

"How... dare... you!" Mateus roared.

"Oh, shut up," Borghen said. "I am so tired of your... arrogance. I mean, holy shit. You think you're the be-all, end-all. Well, this whole experience has proven to me that all I need to succeed against you, and anything else the eidolons throw at me, is the overwhelming fear of a lost little bunny." He smiled, noticing how she was still shaking. The fact that he was so close to her made her just unable to respond. It made him nothing short of overjoyed, basking in her fear.

Canti pressed the blade harder into her skin, causing Cid to curse up a storm. The blood was much heavier now, dangerously close to making her to pass out. She didn't know how else she'd finally be rid of this, even though everyone she loved was begging her not to go any further. "...I'd rather die than have another nightmare about your hands all over me..." she cried. "...I'm sorry I failed all of you..."

Cid shook his head in protest. Out of magic to cast cure spells, out of any way to launch attacks. Would he really be resigned to watching his daughter die? Did he have no choice but to accept every child that ever saw him as a father would simply have to be taken from him?! His heart and soul ached for something, anything... some answer... something he could say, something he do... something... The anxiety ran through him, making his nerves colder than what the wind could blow in these parts.

When Borghen put his hand on hers, she shoved him off. The pudgy, short man fell back on the cold hard ground. He gasped.

"That's... that's it...!" Cid said. "You were able to push him back..."

"This is something you must do," Kain said.

"No matter how much we support you, we cannot fight your fear for you," Minwu reminded her.

She suddenly took an attacking stance, pointing her spear right up against the cheek of Borghen. "...I will live with what you did to me for the rest of my life," she said, turning the spear on its side, pressing the blade up against his neck, "But I... refuse to fear you any longer!"

"There's nothing you can do to me!" Borghen cackled.

"Wrong," she said, making his neck bleed the same way she had done to herself. "Borghen, you have no power over me." Canti felt a huge weight lifted off her shoulders and energy within her swelled out. It was peaceful and healing, in a way different from white magic. This healing energy emanated from her and passed along to her team, allowing them all to bring themselves to a stand. She basked in it for a moment, in the soothing wind she managed to create with the relief that she was no longer locked in a constant state of anxiety over that trauma.

When the rest of her team stood around her, she pointed the spear at the ground, causing a massive seal to glow on the ground below Borghen himself. When she shoved it into the ground itself, a breeze of purple rose petals scattered over it and a blast of bright light came from it, causing the wretched little man to simply vanish.

"Whoa..." Cid said. "...what was... that technique?"

Canti turned to him and answered, "I don't really know what it was... I'd never used it before..."

"You manifested a Petal Storm," Mateus said, catching a few of the petals as they were falling. "But why this?" The purple rose was the banner that marked his troops, the insignia of the Palamecian Empire. It would make more sense if he had done it himself.

"I don't know. I don't even like flowers," Canti said, shrugging. "Except for the ones you gave me..."

"I suppose that makes sense," Minwu said gently. He placed his hand on her neck to take care of her self-inflicted wound.

"Can we... get out of here?" Kain asked. "It's too cold for my taste."

"It's too cold for anyone's taste," Cid agreed.

"Mmm," Canti said, reaching into her bag. "Take us home, Warp Stone!"

When the team had arrived back at the university, the first light of dawn was just beginning to streak across the mostly star-studded sky. They were all tired, as none of them had a full night's sleep, but they were still in good spirits. They marched out of the Second Realm gallery, headed through the halls to meet with Ramuh. Many sleepy students, keepers, and heroes stopped for a moment as they passed. There was something about the way Canti carried herself in that moment. Dr. Mog was fluttering around with the elderly appearing eidolon in one of the grandest places within the whole campus - the gardens. All sorts of flora from across all the realms lived here together, and right now, with the sunlight coming directly through the stained glass windows, it was all breathtaking.

"You've come back," Ramuh said, turning to address the team.

"Yes," Canti answered.

"You've... changed, haven't you?" he asked.

"I think so."

"What did you need to see us for?" Cid asked. He was doing his best to hold back a yawn, but they'd been up so long that it was difficult.

Ramuh smiled. "A natural smile, an uplifted spirit... I simply had to experience this. I've seen you grow from a tiny, troubled child from where you are now, and I couldn't be more proud... Go, child... Go and have your much deserved rest."

She giggled sleepily. "I know if I ever see him again in my dreams... I can fight him off."

"And we'll be there with you," Minwu said, yawning.

"Yes, you will," Canti agreed.

The team went back to her place, everyone taking a place of their own to pass out and catch their Z's. Canti laid in Mateus' arms, snuggled up against his heartbeat, warm under layers of blankets, free from nightmares.


End file.
